It’s time for gamers the world over to mark their calendars, because the
ultimate high-stakes Call of Duty competition is coming this
April, forever changing the face of competitive eSports. The Call
of Duty Championship, presented by Xbox, featuring
a $1 million Call of Duty®: Black Ops II tournament, will
take place in Hollywood, CA April 5-7. Activision Publishing, Inc., a
wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI)
and their award-winning studio Treyarch, in partnership with Xbox®,
Major League Gaming (MLG) and the Electronic Sports League (ESL) will
bring together 32 of the world’s most skilled multiplayer teams on the
Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft to compete
head-to-head in Call of Duty: Black Ops II in a
live-streamed spectacular to be broadcast to the masses.

"More people play Call of Duty multiplayer every day than
watch the average regular season game of the NBA. The scale and passion
of the Call of Duty fan base is simply humbling, and yet there is
no formal way to find out who amongst those millions of players is the
best of the best, until now," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision
Publishing. "Watching the performances of the very best Call of
Duty players is already a mass spectator sport on YouTube and Call
of Duty® Elite. We are going to bring the best players in the
world to Hollywood to compete on the ultimate stage, for the ultimate
prize. And we are going to invite our entire worldwide fan base to join
in the fun."

Beginning today, players interested in participating in the tournament
can go to https://elite.callofduty.com/esports
and register for a free Call of Duty Elite account – it
takes just a few seconds. Once registered, teams of four can vie for
entry into the Call of Duty Championship, presented by Xbox
tournament by competing in the February season of League Play in Call
of Duty: Black Ops II on Xbox LIVE®, which opens today.
Following the close of the February season, the top eight eligible teams
will earn coveted spots in the Call of Duty Championship,
presented by Xbox, including a trip to Hollywood this April to
compete for the $1 million tournament purse.

“It’s an absolute honor to have players and fans celebrate the thrill of
competition on such a grand stage,” said Mark Lamia, Treyarch studio
head. “From the very beginning of development for Call of Duty:
Black Ops II, we committed to making eSports an integral part of
the game, and it’s going to be awesome to watch the best teams in the
world battle it out for everyone to see.”

Additionally, teams competing in the recently announced MLG 2013 Pro
Circuit featuring Call of Duty: Black Ops II (www.majorleaguegaming.com)
will vie for a chance to enter the Call of Duty Championship,
presented by Xbox. At the MLG Winter Championship, March 15-17,
in Dallas, Texas, the top eight teams will earn trips to Hollywood to
play against the best Call of Duty players in the world. Joining
them will be eight winning teams from the ESL’s European Finals (http://cod.esl.eu)
taking place March 16-17, in the famous ESL Arena live eSports Studios
in Cologne, Germany.

Remaining seats in the 32-team tournament will be made available
internationally across Asia, Australia, and Brazil, with
territory-specific qualification details to be revealed locally as they
become available and at https://elite.callofduty.com/esports.

Further details on the Call of Duty Championship, presented by Xbox,
including full rules and regulations, Call of Duty: Black Ops II
maps and modes for the tournament, prizing distribution, travel
accommodations and more will be made available at https://elite.callofduty.com/esports.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is rated “M” (Mature – Blood
and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of
Drugs – content suitable for persons ages 18 and older) by the ESRB.
More information on Call of Duty: Black Ops II can be
found at http://www.callofduty.com/blackops2
or on www.facebook.com/codblackops.
Fans can also follow @Treyarch on Twitter.

About Major League Gaming

Major
League Gaming (MLG) (www.majorleaguegaming.com)
is the world’s largest eSports organization with millions of LIVE
viewers, fans and competitors around the globe. MLG enables gamers to
compete, improve their skills, and socialize via the largest online
destination for competitive console and PC gaming featuring more than 8
million registered gamers, and the annual MLG Pro Circuit featuring
LIVE, in-person tournaments in cities nationwide. MLG broadcasts
competitive play, analysis and more via online streaming to hundreds of
thousands of fans in an average of more than 170 countries.

About Electronic Sports League

Electronic Sports League and the company behind, Turtle Entertainment,
is the leading gaming company in the field of competitive gaming and
electronic sports. Founded in the year 2000 the company is currently
offering its services in more than 46 countries including the US and
China. Core of Turtle's services is it's online portal called Electronic
Sports League (ESL) which became a highly popular destination site for
competitive computer gamers around the world. The portal reaches up to
ten million visits a month (IVW) generated by more than 4 million
registered users. Turtle Entertainment broadcasts ESL events via ESL TV,
ESL's web-TV service, since 2007. The headquarter has more than 115
employees and is located in Cologne, Germany. Turtle Entertainment owns
the majority of the Chinese eSports league PGL (Pro Gamer League) since
2007. Turtle Entertainment markets its products worldwide using these
specific brands: Electronic Sports League (ESL), ESL Pro Series, Intel
Extreme Masters, ESL Major Series, ESL TV, Consoles Sports League.
Further information is available at www.turtle-entertainment.com.

About Treyarch

Treyarch is an industry-leading game developer, wholly owned by
Activision Publishing, Inc. whose Call of Duty: Black Ops II
set world-wide launch day records, and whose previous game Call of
Duty®: Black Opsset an entertainment launch opening record upon
its release in 2010 and continues to be one of the best-selling games of
all time, according to NPD and GfK Chart-Track.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc.
is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of
interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Mexico, the
United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway,
Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, mainland China and the
region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can
be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in
this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations,
plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, are
forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of
risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Activision
Publishing’s actual future results to differ materially from those
expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release
include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the
risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report
on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The
forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information
available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the
date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision
Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may
ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of
the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard
and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which
are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially
from current expectations.

ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, and CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS are trademarks of
Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the
properties of their respective owners.

Microsoft, Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

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